


Fluxed Forever

by Doodle_Archer



Series: The Flux parallel [1]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Blackrock Chronicles, Definitely more flux buddies based than blackrock but the blackrock parts important too, Flux Buddies, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-15
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-03-30 17:17:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 13,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3945121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doodle_Archer/pseuds/Doodle_Archer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The person Duncan cares about most in the world is seriously ill. And he doesn't know how to save her. Luckily, he has an old 'friend' that might know how to help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. All. His. Fault.

"You can't.."

Duncan ran, a purple figure in his arms. Lifeless.

"Please, you're all I have!"

His sight went blurry from tears but he could still see the sand village up ahead.

"Please, Kim! You've gotta hang in, you've gotta!"

 

The morning had been dreadful. Duncan figured something bad might happen after yesterday's events but nothing this bad. Duncan had no one to blame but himself. He kept telling himself that it was all. His. Fault.

*The Day Before*  
"Good morning,Flux buddy!" Kim shouted. This was how she woke Duncan up, every day, without fail. Duncan groaned.  
"Do you really have to shout, Kim?"  
"Yes I do! If I didn't you would just ignore me. It's happened before, ya know. So in a way it's your fault I'm shouting, dumbass"  
Duncan just groaned. He tried to just go back to sleep. Kim sighed. "I said, good morning ,Flux buddy!" She grabbed Duncan's hammock and pulled it upwards, leaving Duncan to tumble onto the floor. "Oww! Kim, was that really necessary?"  
Kim giggled. "I guess not, but it DID get you out of bed and it was pretty funny too."  
"For you maybe..."  
"Stop being such a baby and get changed. Come to the noodle hut when your ready, I'll start making breakfast" Kim left for the noodle hut, still giggling about Duncan's fall. Duncan sat up rubbing his back "You're so immature." Whispered Duncan, smiling.

After a breakfast of noodles, the decision was made to go adventuring. They decided to take their golden chocobos,a choice Duncan partly regret."just make sure not to kill him, Duncan. We know how good you are with pets" Kim said, snidely.  
"Oh shut up,Kim. As if I'd kill a golden chocobo" Kim shot Duncan a look as if to say 'really?',before flying on ahead, giggling.  
"You really are mean, aren't you" said Duncan. Kim just carried on giggling, Duncan soon caught up to her and elbowed her, making her nearly fall of her chocobo. "HEY!" She shouted. This time it was Duncan laughing.

Their journey was a fun one, tackling dungeons, finding new places, Kim even found some useful ingredients for her noodle bar. They carried on joking with each other, poking fun at one another, even getting into the occasional friendly argument. It would usually start with Kim bringing up something Duncan hadn't done, or something he'd done wrong (like always) but he'd get his own back. 

The pair had been flying for ages until Kim happened upon a strange place. "Hey Duncan,look down there. It doesn't look natural.." She had found a big crater with a watchtower to the side of it. The top seemed to resemble a dinosaur. There were bits left of a farm, too. Duncan knew exactly where this was.  
"Oh my god, is this..." Duncan trailed off.  
"What Duncan? What is this?"  
Duncan giggled. "Ha ha, it is. I knew I recognised it."  
"FOR GODS SAKE, DUNCAN! WHAT IS IT"  
"Ok, ok, calm down." He was now laughing at Kim. Kim wasn't amused. "This is where blackrock fortress used to be, you know, Rythian and Zoey's base that I put a nuke under."  
"Oh yea, I've heard that story thousands of times, you really are an asshole."  
"Hey! To be fair, I didn't blow it up."Duncan looked at the crater "Zoey blew it up trying to defuse it. I only put it there to show them I meant business."

Duncan's smile loosened. He remembered how Rythian was after that explosion. He was broken, even more than when Zoey left him that time. He really thought she was gone forever. Duncan's chest tightened. The thought of being in Rythian's position and it being Kim instead of Zoey....  
"Poor, Rythian" Duncan muttered. He didn't mean to say it out loud.  
"Huh? What was that?" Kim had heard him.  
"Oh, nothing. Let's head back" the two headed back, they started joking again. Duncan noticed something a little off with Kim on the way back. Had seeing that crater hurt her somehow? Duncan shrugged it of and decided to ask when they got home.

When they got back to their base and we're putting their things away, Duncan decided to ask what was wrong.  
"Hey ki-" Duncan was cut of by a loud 'ugh' from Kim as she collapsed onto her knees.  
"Oh my god! Kim, are you ok?!" Duncan asked in a panic.  
Kim smiled "I'm fine, Dunc. Don't worry about me.  
"But I do worry..." Duncan stopped. How could he have been so blind. Kim's flux had spread over most of her body. "Kim, you are most definitely not fine! Your flux.." He was interrupted by Kim. Her smile cracked.  
"I know.."  
"Wait, you knew?! And you didn't say anything?! Kim.."  
"Duncan I'm fine, you're going to have to trust me on this one, please." Kim looked up at Duncan as if she was begging.  
"No! I-I..." Duncan stopped. He sat down and tried to calm himself. "Alright, Kim." He paused "but you've got to tell me things like this! We're Flux buddies, the clues in the name." Kim smiled at him. "In fact, your more than my flux buddy. If anything happened to you I don't know what I'd do..."  
"Duncan... I'm sorry..."  
Duncan blushed slightly. He realised what he'd said."We're going to have to get rid of this flux soon or it'll take us over fully. Who knows what we'll do then."  
"Yea..."  
After that they decided to go to bed. It was already late but Duncan felt embarrassed after what he'd said. He truly meant it, though.There was silence as Kim got onto her purple bed and Duncan onto his hammock.  
"Goodnight, flux buddy." Kim whispered  
"Goodnight." Duncan replied.

Duncan couldn't sleep. All he could think about was how this was his fault. If Kim never became his apprentice she never would have fell into the flux sphere.

Duncan kept running, the sand village was right in front of him. "It's all my fault...it's all my fault..." Duncan was crying, his tears dripping onto Kim, all the while he kept whispering about how it was all. His. Fault.


	2. A Village Of Sand And Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What exactly happened that morning? How did they get to the village?

Duncan was now just reaching the sand village, still crying, still muttering. As he ran through he noticed a number of weird buildings. "a hospital?" He muttered through his crying. 'Would they be able to..' Duncan stopped that thought immediately. He couldn't even help her, as if a testifcate run hospital could help..'Is this really the right village. I mean he told me to come this way but there's nothing significantly different here..'

*earlier that morning*  
Duncan's eyelids fluttered. At some point in that sleepless night he'd Actually dozed off. Why was he upset, again?  
Duncan waited Patiently for the familiar wake-up call. He always seemed to wake up around the time she came, his mind just knew it was coming.  
...  
It seemed to be taking a little longer than usual... 'But she always wakes me up around this time. Unless I've woken up a bit earlier..' He looked over at the purple bed. It looked empty. It wasn't. It took Duncan a while but something was there, a purple something. "Kim?" No movement from the thing.  
Duncan remembered.  
Suddenly, he jumped up, wide awake, and ran over to the bed. He started to panic. "No... No, no no, no!" He looked at her, the flux had covered her. Entirely. Duncan was on the brink of crying "Kim, Kim! Come on, wake up! KIM!" He was now shaking her rather violently. Still no movement. Duncan had no idea what to do. They had made no progress what so ever in getting rid of the flux and the magic they were doing wouldn't help.  
Duncan tried to calm down so he could think.  
'Magic. Who do we know that uses magic... Hannah uses magic, witchery like Kim. Kim would have known if there were any helpful things in witchery. Sjin? No he's our enemy..' Duncan remembered the crater they saw yesterday. 

"Rythian."  
Rythian was a very skilled Mage. He knew more about magic than Duncan who used both magic and science. Rythian only ever used magic and only accepted science when he found out Zoey was secretly using it. Duncan stopped for a minute. 'Rythian hates me for the nuke thing.. No, he'll understand the pain of losing a close friend. A similar near-death situation had happened to Zoey so maybe he'll help.." But how would he find him?  
He was probably long gone, as far away from the bad memory as possible. It was worth a look though. Anything for Kim. Duncan looked at her. Somehow, he'd managed to forget the situation momentarily. He started tearing up again. No, he wouldn't. He had to stay strong at least until he found help.

Duncan got his golden choccobo and set of for the crater. He was weary about taking an unconscious Kim into the air. What if... He didn't want to finish his thought. Soon they arrived. Duncan wasn't really sure what he was looking for. Just any sign of anyone near by.. Duncan heard a loud shout. Someone was near. He flew top speed to the destination. "A volcano?" Duncan looked down at it. He saw a chair on fire.  
"No, Jim. Bad, Jim. What would Zoey think of this behaviour, ey? I came all the way out here to see you and you burned my chair. That is NOT how you treat uncle Nilesy!"  
'Why was Nilesy talking to a volcano..' Honestly, Duncan didn't have time to care. He was just lucky that Nilesy was here. 

Duncan landed near by, a bit away from the volcano. "NILESY!" Duncan ran up to him,Kim in his arms. "Sorry for shouting , Jim but you didn't have to shout back.. You almost sounded like.." Nilesy turned around. "Duncan! What brings you here! I'm definitely not talking to a... Umm.. Volcano.. Called.. Jim.." Nilesy giggled nervously. He hadn't noticed Duncan's sad face and the small purple body in his arms, "oh my god... Is that.."  
"Yes, it is! I need you to tell me where Rythian is, stat!" Duncan explained a little of what happened. Duncan was starting to cry, again.  
"Oh, I see why you need Rythian's help now. He always was good with magic. Rythian... Let me think.. Him, Zoey, Ravs and Teep are in a sand village to the north of here. I can take you there." Nilesy grinned, a heroic look on his face. He ran to fetch something. Duncan's face brightened up. "Yes! Thank you so much!" He looked down at Kim "You're going to be alright, we will get Rythian's help."  
Nilesy came back with a plane, "are you ok to follow behind on your... Uh... Yellow flamingo? I'll take Kim in my plane with me"  
"Sounds good"

 

Duncan followed Nilesy for what seemed to be forever. They flew over biome after biome. Nilesy wouldn't shut up but it wasn't really annoying Duncan. For most of the flight he was staring dazed at the black and purple hair waving around behind Nilesy.  
Was this his fault? Duncan couldn't help but think it was. He was the scientist, he should have know to act sooner, get it at the root before it became a problem... Duncan heard a voice and suddenly stop day dreaming, "Duncan? Ah, your back with me."  
"What? What is it?" Nilesy landed his plane.  
"Unfortunately, this is as far as I can take you. The mayor has some problems with planes being in his village. Not to do with me or anything.... Hehe.. Anyway you see it in the distance don't you? You just head there." he went to lift Kim out of the plane.  
"No, don't touch her!"  
"Wow.. I didn't know you were that protective of her."  
Duncan blushed. "No, I don't want you to get infected with flux. I'm already infected so it should be fine" Duncan picked up Kim.  
"Ah. I see. I hope you get this mess sorted out. Say hi to Kim for me when she wakes" Nilesy flew of, waving back at Duncan. Duncan just smiled and nodded. He headed for the village, Kim in arms.

*the present*  
Duncan was looking in every building, checking for any sign of Rythian. He came out of the last house. He was going to give up but then he saw a familiar shape on top of a sand wall. A dinosaur watchtower. Duncan suddenly had hope, "that's them alright" Duncan ran straight for the fort.  
*  
Zoey was sat near the fort wall tinkering with her arm. It had been acting up all day. Rythian was in his research tent, writing notes and fiddling with new potions for him to use. Suddenly, a laser beam shot from the end of Zoeys arm. "Oops. Wrong wire."  
Rythian sighed "careful, Zoey. You,re going to put someone's eye out with that."  
"Oh, loosen up. It was an accident"  
Teep looked down from his watchtower to see where the noise had come from. Seeing that it was Zoey, he resumed his sniper position, looking at anything to shoot. He spotted someone running towards them. It was the evil guy that captured Rythian, and blew up their home. Teep remembered the things he'd given him and Zoey. He was some help... He decided to not shoot him and warn his friends instead. He climbed down and ran over to Zoey.  
"Huh? What is it Teep? Rythian, Teep's trying to show me something."  
Rythian looked over at Teep. He seemed to be pointing at the entrance. "I wonder what it is..." Questioned Rythian. He walked over to the entrance and peaked out.  
"Duncan?!"  
Zoey looked up from her arm. "What? Why's he here?! He better not want to blow us up again.." Rythian squinted at the man running towards them. He spotted the tears on his face and the thing he was carrying. "No.. Zoey.. I think he needs help... Come look" Zoey stood up and ran to the entrance. Her eyes widened. "Oh my goodness.."  
Duncan finally arrived at the fort. He was full on crying, covering Kim in his tears as they ran down his face

"Rythian! Please... She's.. I..." He paused. He was choking on his words " I don't want to lose her.. Please, Rythian. She's everything I have!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah. I'm sorry this took nearly a week. I wasn't really sure on how I wanted them to get to the village. I finally decided to go with Nilesy when I remembered his plane incident in Blackrock. I had 2 ideas on where Duncan would find him. One of them being the baby Jim thing I used the other was him being at the crooked caber playing the lever game with a chicken.
> 
> Undortunately , after the next chapter, I'm not sure where to go with the story so chapters will take quite a long time but I won't forget. I'll think up ideas every spare chance I get :)


	3. A Past Not Forgotten

"Please, Rythian! I need your help!" Duncan's voice was shaky, the tears kept falling. Zoey walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Duncan looked up from Kim and to Zoey's worried face. "Duncan, please try to calm down.' Zoey's voice was comforting. "Can you tell us what happened?" Duncan wiped the tears from his face. He began to explain.  
"I-"  
"No" Rythian cut him off, his eyes filled with hatred.  
"What is it, Rythian?" Zoey asked. Rythian turned to look at Duncan.  
"NO." Rythian clenched his fists. "Why should we help you?!" You destroyed our home! You nearly killed Zoey!" He moved slowly closer to Duncan. " Rythian-" Rythian cut her off, emediatly.  
"No, Zoey! Don't defend him! He could have killed you.." Rythian stopped in front of Duncan. Duncan could see a singular tear run down his face. Zoey took her hand off Duncan's shoulder as Rythian started walking forward, backing Duncan up against a wall. Duncan's face turned from upset to frightened. "You nearly kill us, and have the cheek to come and ask us for help? How pathetic that you need your victims help." Rythian glared at Duncan, cowering against the wall. His gaze slowly moved to Kim. "Not so great of a scientist, are you? It's your fault she's like this isn't it? ISN'T IT?!" Duncan started crying again.  
"For gods sake, Rythian." Zoey pushed Rythian away from Duncan, she looked mad. "The poor guy just nearly lost a friend. We need to talk. Now!" Zoey grabbed Rythian's ear and started pulling him towards their tent. She looked back at Duncan with a smile "we'll just be a sec." Duncan just looked at them, a look of confusion and surprise, as she dragged Rythian into the tent.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!"Rythian repeated as Zoey dragged him into the tent. She finally let go of his ear. "Ow! What the hell, Zoey?!" Zoey still looked angry. "He kind of reminds you of someone, huh? A certain someone I know reacted the exact same way when he thought his best friend was going to die! I do wonder who iM TALKING ABOUT!" Zoey barely ever got this angry.  
"I, uh..." Rythian was speachless. Zoey just sighed.  
"You won't ever let the past go will you?" Rythian looked at the floor, avoiding her eyes. "Rythian, if it 's anyone's fault that I nearly died and that Blackrock fortress is gone, its mine. I was the one who set it off." Rythian rushed to find words to say otherwise "no, he put it there! It's Duncan's faul-" Zoey slapped him. "Ow.. Hey!"  
"Just shut up! I really don't care! We've got to help him! Imagine if that was you trying to find help for me after the explosion, and the person you most trusted to help, wouldn't." Rythian's gaze returned to the floor. Zoey seemed to lose the anger from her voice. "Rythian.. Even I can see that he came for your help because as well as probably knowing how to help, he thought you might understand..."

Rythian looked out of the tent at Duncan. He was sat against the sandstone wall, holding Kim close to him. His crying had stopped but he looked longingly at Kim's face, hoping that he might see her eyes twitch or she might suddenly be fine. Zoey followed Rythian's gaze. Then looked up at him, waiting for him to say something. "You're right, Zoey. We need to help."  
Zoey giggled and pushed him out of the tent "wa- hey!"  
"Now go and help your friend!"

 

Rythian slowly walked up to Duncan. Duncan hadn't seen him yet. "Umm.. Hey. Sorry about before.." He was scratching the back of his head, nervously. Duncan looked up at him and smiled a little. "Maybe you could explain to me everything that happened so we can start to sort this out?"  
"Yea" Duncan whispered. Zoey came over from the tent. "Are you really planing to carry Kim around everywhere? I bet it's not very comfy, for her or for you."  
"Oh,yea. There's a small hospital in the village. She can stay there if you want" Rythian's voice had lost all aggression ;it was similar to Zoey's tone of comfort.  
"yea. Good idea. My arms are getting a bit tired. I know where it is, acctually. I'll go take her there now." Duncan stood up.  
"No, no. I'll take her for you if you want." Zoey insisted.  
"You better not. I don't want to pass the flux on. As far as I know it's not too contagious if you have a similar amount to what I have, but Kim's covered."  
"Ah, I see. I'm still coming with you though." Zoey and Duncan headed for the hospital, leaving Rythian alone with Teep.

Duncan laid Kim down on the hospital bed. "Are you sure it's ok to leave her here?"  
Zoey smiled "sure. It's not like she's going to be alone. I'll stay here and look after her while you two figure things out."  
"Are you sure? Thank you, Zoey." Duncan opened the door to leave. "Oh, and thank you for earlier. Whatever you said to Rythian obvioustly helped." He paused "look, I'm really REALLY sorry about the whole nuke thing.." Zoey put a hand on his shoulder. "It dosnt matter, Duncan, it's in the past now. Plus haven't you got someone to be saving?" They both turned their heads to Kim, then back to each other. Duncan nodded and left for the fortress. Zoey perched herself on the windowsill next to Kim's bed and resumed tinkering with her arm.

.....

The morning passed fast, it was now 3 in the afternoon. Zoey still hadn't finished tinkering with her arm. A beam of light shot across the hospital, adding to the already singed wall."Aww, damn it. Not again. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea for me to be in here with Kim."  
"Why do I smell burning.." A little voice said. Zoey paused her tinkering and looked at Kim's bed. Her eyes were partly open.  
"KIM?!" Zoey moved her arm too fast, causing another laser to shoot, narrowly missing Kim's bed. "AHH! That was to close, Zoey! too! Damn! Close!" She muttered angrily at herself.  
Kim sat up in her bed. "Zoey? What are you doing here... Why does everything hurt.."  
Zoey calmed herself down. "Duncan brought you here after he found you had been fully covered in flux."  
Kim scratched her head. "Where is he now?"  
Zoey closed the panel on her arm. "He's working with Rythian to try and help you. He was so worried when you wouldn't wake up"  
Kim's face saddened "it's my fault.. I should have told him sooner.. I didn't want him to worry but now that's exactly what I've done."Zoey put her hand on Kim's shoulder.  
"Oh Kim.. Don't blame yourself. It's not something you can control."  
Kim looked at Zoey. "I guess.." She quickly relised what Zoey touching the flux meant. "Zoey, your hand!"  
Zoey took her hand off Kim's shoulder and showed her "look, it's robotic. I doubt it'll matter too much." 

After that there was a brief silence until Zoey spoke up. "Oh, yea. I want to give you this to hold on to." She took a big stone with a pink gem in the middle out of her pocket and handed it to Kim. "Thanks, but what is it?" Kim asked as she examined the stone. "It's something that Rythian gave me a while back. It saved my life. If not for that I would have died in the nuke explosion." A frown apeared on her face. She hated mentioning the nuke. She soon found her smile again"It'll keep you alive until the magical boys find you a cure" Zoey had a massive grin on her face. Kim couldn't help but smile back.  
"Thank you, I'll treasure it."


	4. Don't Leave Me!

"What is this?" Zoey opened her eyes to see a worried Rythian. It looked like they where at Blackrock fortress. "Look, Zoey, you don't have to do this.."Rythian said, sheepishly.  
'Do what?' Is what she tried to say. "no, Rythian. I can do this! I'm 98% sure I can!"  
No..  
She soon realised what was happening. She was reliving the events of when the nuke exploded. 'No no no! Let me out! I don't want to see this again!' She saw Rythian walking away and she headed to the nuke. She tried with everything she could to pull herself of track to the nuke. 'Stop being an idiot, Zoey! You even knew at the time this wouldn't work! Your stupid..I'm stupid. So so stupid!' The Zoey going to defuse the nuke couldn't hear her. She couldn't even close here eyes as it was happening. Zoey saw the same tears she had the first time she knew it was over. Again she heard the "Rythian, I miss you! Rythian, I need you! Rythian I-" the words I love you never did make it out of her mouth.

Again, she felt the pain of the explosion. Her, legs, her arm ,they all ached, the pain of her arm ripping off ; none of it compared to the pain she felt in her heart when she thought she would never see Rythian again. Everything faded to black.

............

"RYTHIAN!" Zoey screamed as she woke up. She looked at where her arm should be. It was there. She looked around her. She was on the floor of the hospital. She must have never left. "Zoey? Are you ok?" Kim was leaning out of her bed looking at her.  
"Yea, I'm fine. Just a bad dream" 'an incredibly bad dream...' She decided not to word the end of her thought. She stood up and sat back on the windowsill.  
"If you don't mind me asking, what was it about I mean you shouted 'Rythian' when you woke up.."  
" no, it's fine" Zoey looked at her robotic arm. " I had a dream about when the nuke went off. I was just watching what I'd done, I couldn't do anything about it... Worst of all, I relived the pain..." Zoey paused. She looked up from her arm with a smile on her face "I'm fine though, honestly!" Kim just looked at her. She looked so happy, yet, she was crying.  
"Zoey.." Kim was cut off by a cheery voice.  
"Oh, yea! Duncan dosnt know your awake yet. I'll go get him!" She headed for the door before Kim could say anything. Kim saw her smile disappear as she left. She heard faint crying as the door closed behind Zoey.  
"Why are you acting so tough?" Kim muttered to herself.

"So just to recap, you discovered that her flux had spread later on yesterday?"  
"Yep"  
"But she had known all of yesterday, maybe even earlier on?"  
"Yep"  
"It's a shame Kim's not awake. We really need to ask her when this started. There could be a clue to what caused it to spread so rapidly" Rythian put down his pen and put his notes aside. "There's not much we can do until-"  
"Guys!" Zoey ran into the fort, a smile on her face. "Kim's awake!" Duncan's eyes widened and a smile grew on his face. Even Rythian looked happy "how covinent. Looks like we've got just what we needed" Duncan ran right out of the fort at top speed. Rythian started to follow, slowly. He noticed the smile had disappeared of Zoeys face and she was just standing there, eyes on the floor. "Hey are you-" Zoey flung her arms around Rythian.  
"Don't ever leave me ,ok?" She said, tears streaming down her face. Rythian was confused. "Um, ok. But why would I leave you?" Zoey didn't answer she just hugged him tighter.

When Zoey and Rythian arrived they saw Duncan hugging Kim tight,crying over her shoulder. "I was so worried, Kim. Please don't ever leave me." Rythian looked over to Zoey who was stood there, her eyes on the floor again. "Ok, ok, Duncan. I won't but can you please let go. You're gonna suffocate me" Duncan quickly let go and Kim gave a sigh.  
"Jeez, who knew you were such a big sap."  
Duncan wiped away his tears of joy. "I'm sorry, I was just really happy to see you. I thought you were gonna die..."  
"Well, I'm definitely not going to die now." Kim showed Duncan the stone Zoey had given her. "Zoey gave me this" Duncan looked over at Rythian. Zoey momentarily looked up from the floor to see Rythian's reaction, but on meeting his gaze, she blushed and quickly reverted her eyes back to the floor. She didn't know what to expect. Was he angry that she'd give such a precious thing of theirs to Kim? Was he sad? happy? She felt a hand on her shoulder. "Great thinking, Zoey. Now we can take our time finding a cure that will surely work" Zoey was glad to hear Rythian's words. She smiled a little. "We'll leave you two alone now." Rythian turned around to leave and tapped Zoeys shoulder. "come on, let's go" She nodded as he left.  
"I hope they find a cure soon, Kim. Bye" Zoey walked out of the door, shutting it quietly behind her.

Rythian was stood outside waiting for her. "Zoey, you've got to tell me what's wrong. This really isn't like you. It's scaring me" Zoey didn't say anything, she started walking swiftly back to the base. Rythian ran after her. "Oh, come on Zoey. Atleast slow down." She stopped compleatly. There was a long silence until Zoey finally spoke. "Do-" She paused again. "Do you blame me for Blackrock not being there anymore?" Rythian was confused. "oh, come on! You know I blame-" He lowered his voice. "Duncan. Why do you keep blaming yourself?"  
"Because I can't stop thinking that it would still be there if I wasn't so... So arrogant. Rythian, I had a dream about me defusing the bomb. I couldnt do anything to stop myself. I had to watch it all again! I had to hear all the things I said. 'I'm 98% sure' how full of myself could I get! I caused myself, as well as you, so much pain. I was so sure I would never see you again.." Rythian hugged her tightly "seeing Duncan and Kim like this reminded me so much of us back then. I just couldn't stop thinking about it."  
"Listen, it's in the past and I'm never going to leave you, I promise. Just like Duncan's never going to leave kim" Zoey nodded. The two walked back to there base while Duncan told Kim about just how he'd gotten to the sand village.


	5. The one called Mother

The morning was hot and dry, typical desert weather. Duncan walked down the road towards Zoey and Rythian's fort. He'd fell asleep while talking to Kim. unluckily for him, it was a floor he'd slept on instead of the bed next to her.he was happy he'd slept there. He got her familiar wake up call after 2 days without it. It felt like forever for him. He smiled as he walked, half asleep into the fort.

Rythian was at his table. Fiddling with notes and potions. "Hello, Duncan where were you? You didn't come back last night."  
Duncan yawned "I spent the night with Kim. I dosed of on the floor."  
"Is that all? Nothing... More?" Rythian giggled a little as he saw Duncan blush.  
"Oh my god, rythian, no. I dosed of on the floor and just happened to sleep through till morning." Duncan's face got more red as Rythian kept laughing. 

At that moment Zoey emerged from the tent. After a strech she walked over to the boys.Rythian was now in hysterics, laughing harder the more he saw Duncan turn red. "What the butts is going on?" No reply. "Well, then. You two better start acctually doing something. I'm going to see Kim." Zoey headed out, waving at Teep in his watchtower as she passed. 

Zoey was surprised to hear loud muffled shouting from down the road. She knew it was kim and started to run. She opened the door, to Kim holding her head mumbling. "Kim, is everything ok?" Kim didn't look up she just kept mumbling, occasionally raising her voice.  
"Why do you care ,Mother" Zoey walked closer to Kim. "And why do you sound like-" She felt a cold metal hand on her shoulder "Zoey? Oh my god, I'm sorry.. I thought you were Mother. She's gotten louder ever since the flux overtook."  
"Who's Mother?" Zoey asked as she sat on the windowsill. Kim looked just about as confused as her.  
"I don't really know.. She just kind of apeared when I got infected with flux. The voice introduced itself as 'Mother' so that's what I know her as. As I said, she's gotten louder and won't shut up. Even when I'm asleep.." Kim's face was less confused and more saddened.

Zoey quickly tried to think up anything that might cheer her up or comfort her.  
"So it's kind of like me with mushrooms?" The confusion returned to Kim's face. "I can talk to mushrooms, only brown and red ones though. The other ones voices are all weird." Zoey picked up the potted red mushroom next to her " for example, this is Brad and he is saying very unkind things about you, how could you , Brad!"  
Kim giggled " oh come on you've got to tell me what he's saying."  
"Uhh.. Are you sure" Zoey sounded genuinely worried. Kim nodded. "He says that he hates being in this room with you because your voice is very annoying and you smell."  
"HE SAID WHAT?! I DONT SMELL AND MY VOICE IS NOT ANNOYING" Kim just sat there angrily mumbling until she realised what she was mad about. She laughed. "Why am I mad at a mushroom." The two girls started laughing. Zoey was glad her talent made someone happy. She could still hear angry mumblings from Brad the mushroom but just ignored them.

"WHAT?!" Duncan was pacing around, worried.  
"Look, Duncan. It's not as bad as you think..." Rythian was trying to calm him down. Duncan's pacing stopped in front of him. "Not as bad... RYTHIAN. YOU. CANT. USE. MAGIC. How is that not bad?! How will we help kim?!" Duncan continued his pacing, Muttering about how bad it was. Rythian stopped him as he passed, again. "Duncan, listen. I've become very skilled with potions , we can make potions for her. It's not the end of the world"  
Duncan stopped panaking.he hadn't thought about potions. 'Maybe if Rythian is as skilled as he says, we just might.' "Look, Duncan, i will try everything and anything if it takes it. We WILL sort this, with or without my magic" Duncan smiled, his face was showed determination. Rythian, however, wondered if what he had said was true. He was no where near as skilled with potions as magic ; even his own personal magic wouldn't work. It still felt weird to him, not having his ender magic. It had been atleast 6 months. Rythian stopped thinking about it. He would keep his word, he would heal Kim.

*  
After that the day went smoothly, Duncan and Rythian started writing up lists for potions while Zoey kept Kim company in the hospital, telling her stories about her and Rythian's adventures. Kim was so happy, it managed to drone out mother. It was now night. Zoey had left about an hour ago. It didn't take long for kim to go to sleep.  
'Kim, my flux child. You love me don't you?' Kim was asleep yet the voice of mother still echoed through her head. She mumbled a reply. "Yes, mother."  
'I want you to go and get the mushroom princess and the one born of ender. Taint them for me, my child. Mother needs more children' Kim rubbed her eyes and sat up in her bed ; her eyes where Crimson.  
"Yes, mother."


	6. Mother's children

Back at the fort, Duncan was still awake. Rythian had gone to his tent a while ago. Duncan couldn't sleep. Nothing they had researched would help in any way. He sighed as he finished reading through a list. Again, nothing was helpful. All he wanted was Kim back to normal, for them to be able to go home and just get on with things.

He was about to head to bed when he saw a figure limping towards the fort. Purple, red eyes, who.. What was it? Duncan had to squint to make her out.  
"Oh, hey, Kim." The figure didn't reply. "What are you doing up? Can't sleep?" Still no reply. She just stared at him. Duncan was slightly creeped out, her eyes were glowing. "come to think of it, you struggled to walk, didn't you? Good to see you on your feet." Kim walked a few steps closer to Duncan.   
"Mothe-Uh.. I'm looking for mushroom girl, have you seen her?" Her voice was rough. Duncan was puzzled. He knew she meant Zoey, but why mushroom girl? A joke they had between them?  
"Oh, Zoey's in the tent with Rythian. They're asleep" Kim slowly turned her head to look at the tent.   
"I'll go wake her up, it's urgent." Kim started towards the tent, but Duncan grabbed her shoulder.  
"I think it's better if you didn't. What do you need help with? I can help?"  
"No, Duncan. I need mushro- Zoey. Only she can help.."  
Kim continued walking but Duncan stopped her again.  
"No, really. I'll hel-" At that moment, Kim's right arm became disfigured. Her hand closely resembling a claw. She punched Duncan out of the way, his back hitting the sandstone wall. He let out a cry of pain.

Kim turned to start walking to the tent again but the one she was looking for was in front of her. "Kim? What just happened? Is Duncan ok?" Zoey's voice was filled with worry. Duncan struggled to stand up.   
"Ah, Zoey. I was just looking for you" Kim grinned, sinisterly.  
"Really? why?" Zoey noticed Kim's eyes. They made her uneasy   
"I-"  
"NO!" Duncan was stumbling towards them. Kim lost her grin and turned to face Duncan, a scowl on her face. "That's... Not.." Kim ran at him, punching him in the gut once more. His body once again flying against the wall with force. He coughed up blood.

Zoey was horrified. She looked into the tent behind her. Rythian was already stood there, watching. His eyes filled with suprise. "Rythian, we need to help." Zoey's face was filled with worry. Rythian gave a subtle nod.  
"Listen, I've got a plan"

Duncan stood up, and wiped the blood from his face. His legs were shaky, as well as his voice. "Kim.. What's going on?.." Kim just looked at him with her scowl. Duncan met her eyes, then noticed Zoey trying to signal something. It looked like she wanted him to keep Kim busy..   
"So Kim.. It looks like.. Uh. Your better?" Duncan was still looking at Zoey. He saw her face-Palm, before giving him a look as if to say 'what are you doing?!'

Meanwhile, Rythian was creeping round the back of the fort towards Duncan. The wall Duncan was against was fairly small so it wasn't to hard for Rythian to climb. Once he was on top he started to talk to Duncan "hey, Duncan. I have..." He stopped talking. Rythian looked down at Duncan and Zoey, he wasn't sure if they were signalling to each other or just acting things out.. 

Duncan was still talking but it wasn't convincing kim. At the same time, he was trying to signal to Zoey. 'what do you want me to do?!' He couldn't make anything out she was signalling, she was just waving her arms about frantically, with a distressed look on her face.  
She stopped.

She finally noticed Rythian atop of the wall. She pointed at him, then gave a signal that told him to listen. "What are you doing, Duncan?" He'd forgotten about Kim. Zoey quickly distracted her.  
"Oh hey ,Kim. what did you want me for?" Kim walked over to her, leaving Duncan able to listen to Rythian.

"Hey, uh Duncan? We have a plan but it involves Teep shooting Kim.."  
"WHAT?!" Duncan kept his voice as a wisper but it was still a shout.  
"I've told Teep already. He's up there waiting for the signal" Rythian pointed at Teep's tower. He was already lining up a shot "we thought we better ask if you were ok with this first" Duncan was both angry and confused.  
"Of course I'm not ok with this! You'll kill her!"  
Rythian was confused. "Ohh... Yea. I meant to say shoot her with a tranquilliser dart. We made it as a weapon for Zoey a while back. It wasn't very useful"  
Duncan stopped panicking. And nodded "phew, you had me worried there. If it's only a tranquilliser dart then do it. "  
Rythian nodded and signaled to Teep. It only took afew seconds for Kim to fall to the floor.

Rythian jumped down from the wall and Duncan ran over to where Kim and Zoey were. He picked up Kim in his arms. "Thank you for distracting her, Zoey"  
"No problem" she smiled. Rythian was making his way over to them.  
"What the hell were you doing?! It looked like you were just flailing! I thought you were never going to see me!"  
Zoey and Duncan just looked at each other and laughed.  
"Well I'll go take Kim back to the hospital, we'll ask her what was going on tomorrow." Duncan walked out of the fort to the hospital. Zoey and Rythian went back into their tent and to sleep

*  
Zoey couldn't sleep. She just kept tossing and turning and groaning. "Rythian are you awake?'  
Rythian rolled over to face her "yea. How can I sleep with that noise across the tent from me" he sighed. "Well then, what's up?"  
She paused. She suddenly realised what had happened.  
"Rythian.."  
"Yea?"  
"Mother won't stop talking to me.."


	7. Who's To Blame?

"Rythian... Mother won't stop talking to me..." Zoey was now crying. She couldn't stop thinking about what this could lead to. Was she going to end up like Kim? Would Mother take over and hurt Rythian? Most of all, she couldn't figure out how the hell it happened. All physical contact she had made with Kim was through her robot arm. Unless....

*  
Zoey really wasn't sure what her signals were meant to be. She started to panic and flailed her arms around aimlessly. Suddenly, she stopped. Rythian was looking at her sternly atop of the wall. She looked at Duncan then pointed up at Rythian.  
What are you doing, Duncan?" Kim asked. She knew something was up. Zoey had to act fast.  
"Oh hey, Kim. What did you want me for? " Kim ignored Duncan and turned towards Zoey. She had the same evil grin on her face as before. Zoey was clearly her target.

Zoey panicked. She really had no other plan other than call her over. Kim's movements where slow, all the while her grin getting bigger. Zoey backed away at the same speed. Suddenly, Kim giggled and fired herself towards Zoey. She stopped. Her grin loosened. Teep had got her with his shot just before she could grab Zoey ; her fluxed hand was only centimetres away. Zoey jumped back to make sure she didn't touch her as she fell.  
*

Zoey thought back to when Kim fell. She had felt something briefly on her ankle. She swiftly wiped away her tears and pulled up her covers. Rythian was sat up in his bed across from her, still puzzled.  
"Zoey who the hell is Mother? One of your mushroom-" he followed Zoey's gaze. Her ankle was covers in purple. "Oh no.. No, no no.." Zoey started crying again.

"Don't cry, my child. Mothers here to protect you.." Mothers voice was eerie as it echoed.  
Zoey felt sick.  
"NO! Why.. Why is this happening..." She layed back down on her bed, turned away from Rythian. Rythian had no idea what to do. He couldn't tell her it was going to all be ok after what the flux did to Kim. 

At that moment, Duncan came in, covering his eyes. "I'm sorry for intruding, but Zoey sounded like she was in trouble. Is everything ok?"  
"You can take your hands away from your eyes, Duncan" Rythian's voice sounded low.Duncan took his hands from his eyes. Rythian was sat at the edge of his bed looking lost. On the other bed, Zoey was curled up crying, the flux on her leg in plain sight. Duncan quickly picked up on what was going on.

"Oh.. When did this happen.." Duncan didn't know at all how to react.  
"I don't know. You'd have to ask her" Rythian looked broken. Duncan didn't want to ask Zoey, especially when she was in that state. He looked at the ring of flux around her ankle. He couldn't understand how she'd got fluxed, especially there.

"It was when I fell, wasn't it?" Duncan and Rythian looked over to the tent entrance. Kim was stood there, her eyes where no longer red and there was not even a trace of a grin. She propped herself up against the entrance to the tent. 'I'm not really sure what happened just before, but I remember a brief bit of consciousness. I was lying on the floor, my hand around Zoey's ankle. I barely had any strength but I pulled my hand away as soon as I noticed, really." She looked regretfully at Zoey's flux. Her eyes starting to tear up. "I'm sorry.. I really am... Mother took control and I was too weak to do anything about it." Duncan hugged her tightly.  
"No, Kim. I doubt there's any way you could have fought against mother when your covered in flux. As far as we know she IS flux. Stop being so hard on yourself.."

Everyone went quiet. Zoey had cried herself to sleep and Rythian was still sat there, lost and confused. Duncan and Kim left, they headed for the hospital. Everybody blamed themselves for what had happened.  
Kim blamed herself because she let mother take over.  
Duncan blamed himself because it was him she destracted Kim for.  
Zoey blamed herself for not having a plan when she distracted kim.  
And Rythian? Rythian blamed himself for not being there to protect Zoey. He felt the exact same way as he did when she nearly died, even though it was him who kept her alive back then.

 

As zoey slept mother repeated to her, 'get the Enderboy, get the Enderboy.'


	8. The Dream

"Where is this?.." Rythian found himself stood in the middle of nowhere. He looked around for a sign of anything that would tell him where he was. Nothing. Just a grassy plane, a few trees here and there... Nothing unusual, yet, it felt familiar... 

Suddenly, a loud explosion came from behind. It was all too familiar. He remembered. This was where he stood when he heard the nuke exploded. It seemed like the same thing was happening again. Rythian ran in the direction of the explosion. It didn't take long for him to arive at the crater. He looked for any sign of Zoey. He saw a bloodied arm fall just a bit away from him. He went to grab it but he seemed to move away from it. 

Again, he tried to grab it but he seemed to move back. Rythian kept trying and trying ;even though he new the result, he was determined. He stopped. If this was Zoey's arm then that must mean..   
Zoey's body hurtled towards the water. Rythian forgot all about the arm. He just wanted to save Zoey. Again, the same thing happened. "No... No,no no! You can't do this to me now! She'll drown!" Rythian tried everything. Moving backwards to see if the opposite would happen. Nothing. Aproaching from a different direction. Nothing.

Zoey's body was now at the bottom of the lake. Rythian wouldn't accept defeat. He charged towards the lake, eyes closed, wishing to wake up when he opened them. He was back where his charge had started. He tried several more times before accepting the truth.  
There was no way for him to get close. Zoey had-

Rythian watched the water, his clouded eyes fixed on the part tinted with blood from Zoey's bleeding arm. The water stired. Something climbed out of the water, Zoey in its arms. Rythian wiped his eyes and smiled.   
He stopped immediately.   
The thing that was carrying Zoey was not human. It's body was a similar shape but had no defining features. It was purple. It stood infront of Rythian.   
"Who.. What are you?" Rythian reached out to grab Zoey but the thing stepped back.  
"Me? I thought it would be obvious." Rythian looked puzzled. "You really don't know? I thought you were smart, Enderboy." The thing chuckled. Rythian jumped at it.  
"JUST GIVE ME ZOEY!" It swiftly dodged.  
"You really are troublesome... She's my child now and, don't worry, you'll be joining her soon." Mother ran out over the water laughing at Rythian as she went. She turned and threw something back at him.

*  
Rythian bolted up in his bed. "ZOEY!"  
"RYTHIAN!" at the same time, Zoey awoke. They looked at each other, distressed.  
"Rythian, I had a bad dream. It was the explosion again and-"  
"I couldn't reach you, no matter how hard I tried. I thought that you were going to drown. Then-"  
"This ... Thing lifted me out of the water. It was all purple. I think it was..."  
"It must have been, right?"  
They both paused and looked at each other. "Mother." they both giggled nervously. They'd had the exact same dream. What happened to Zoey in Rythian's dream, had in fact happened to her in her dream.

"Same dream, huh. That's weird." Zoey tried to smile about it but Rythian was distracted. He kept thinking about what Mother had said to him. 'She's my child now and, don't worry, you'll be joining her soon...' He couldn't stop thinking about what it meant. Mother intended to get hold of him, but why? What were her intentions with wanting him as well as Zoey, Duncan and Kim.. His thoughts were interrupted by Zoey.  
"Are you thinking about what she said?"  
"Yea.. I don't understand." Rythian looked over at Zoey. Her smile was gone and she looked like she was deep in thought. She spoke up.  
"Nether do I.. She keeps telling me to 'get the Enderboy' even though she most likely can't control me. I mean, Duncan has more flux than me but by what happened with Kim, it doesn't look like she can control him. She can only control Kim."

Rythian hated seeing Zoey like this. She looked really sad , as if she had no life in her. He wanted the happy go lucky Zoey back. She carried on talking.  
"I understand her being in my dream, she can talk to me, but you... She can't talk to you." Zoey laid back down. "I don't understand."  
"No one does, Zoey. Not even Duncan and Kim, and they've had the flux for a lot longer than you." Rythian tried to comfort her. He wasn't sure if it was working.  
"I guess..."  
Rythian stood up and stretched. "I better go and wake up Duncan so we can carry on. You can do what you want." Rythian looked back at Zoey. She turned to face the tent wall and muttered something Rythian couldn't make out. Rythian ignored it and left the tent.

 

At the hospital, Kim was still sleeping peacefully, no disturbances from mother. However, in the sand fortress.. "Wake up, my son. It's time you got yourself a Brother." Duncan ignored Mother's words. He knew she couldn't control him ; he did get up, though. Rythian poked his head into Duncan's tent. "You awake?" Duncan stretched and smiled.  
"Yea, let's get started." He walked out of his tent, not realising his flux was slowly spreading.

 

'Be careful, Rythian' is what Zoey had said, mother had told her her plan.


	9. The Boy

"We're not getting any closer to finding anything that can even remotely help. This is kinda pointless. Do you think we should just-"  
"Give up? You really want to do that, Duncan?" Rythian and Duncan were looking through their notes, They had jotted down everything they could think of to do with curing things like flux. None seemed like it would be any help.  
"Well, no. I just think that flux is beyond our abilities. It's other-worldly ; nothing in this world is remotely like it." Duncan gazed down longingly at all the papers. He rested his head on the table. 'Why is this so hard!" 

He looked up after a while. Rythian had gone quiet. He seemed to be staring at Duncan. "What is it? Is there something on my face?" Duncan felt about his face.  
"Uh.. No. Your eyes. They're.." Rythian sounded increasingly worried.   
"What. What is it?"  
"They're.. Red. And your flux is kinda.." Rythian pointed at Duncan's arm. The flux was moving.  
'AAGGHH!' Duncan launched himself up of his stool. "WHAT THE-" The flux had spread but it was still moving. It just continued moving as if it was a wave.   
"What the hell is happening! And you said my eyes were red, like Kim's?!"  
"N-not as red as Kim's. It's weird. They keep getting slightly lighter and da- OW!" Suddenly, Duncan stumbled forward and hit Rythian across the face. "What was that for?!""  
"As if I'd know!" Duncan walked backwards, away from Rythian. " my arm just.. Moved."

"What are we supposed to do about this?" Duncan kept feeling his joints jolt, as if someone was trying to move them. He only now heard the giggling in his head.  
Rythian was rubbing his cheek were Duncan had hit him. "There's not much we can do. If this is similar to what Mother did to Kim, then I guess we need to be careful. I wonder why she can't control you properly."

Duncan sat down again on his stool. His legs were twitching. "She's got more control over kim, though. I just happened to pick it up from her later on." The giggling in Duncan's head grew louder then suddenly ceased. "Hey, I think you can hear me... I hope you can.. Anyway, I don't know how long I can overpower Mother for,but you NEED to listen to what I'm going to say." Duncan's eyes widened and a smile grew on his face as he listened. 

*

Zoey was dreaming; Another dream about Mother. This time, she was with Kim. They were both trapped in a small room, everything was dark purple. Flux dripped from the ceiling. Mother's silhouette danced about the walls, laughing at them. The two girls grabbed each others hand. "Kim?"  
"Yea, Zoey?" Kim looked over at Zoey. Her eyes were the same deep red as before, except she was herself this time. Zoey flinched ; Kim's eyes still made her uneasy.  
"You're actual you, right? I mean, you're dreaming, too."  
"I think so. I take it you're actual Zoey, then?" Zoey nodded as she shook the purple gunk off of her robot arm." How are we sharing a dream? This is weird..."  
"I had a shared dream with Rythian before. I still don't understand how, though. We're both connected through Mother, but he isn't. It was a horrible dream."  
"Maybe you two have that strong of a connection. It wouldn't be unbelievable." They smiled at each other.

Zoey and Kim rushed to cover their ears as Mothers laughter got incredibly loud, it was almost deafening. It made the flux from the ceasing fall faster as it made the room vibrate.  
It stopped. Silence.  
Zoey opened her eyes after wiping drips of flux away from them. Apart from the flux that covered her, Kim and the boy infront, no purple was to be seen. Only whiteness that stretched for miles. 

The boy infront of them walked forwards, the floor seeming to ripple as if it were water with every step he took. He outstretched an arm covered in flux. It was different to that of Kim's or Duncan's. It had a pattern to it. "Are you two, ok? That's one of the worst dreams I've ever seen mother make."   
"Y-yea. I think.." Zoey shook the boys outstretched hand.  
"Woah. Did mother do that to you in this dream, aswell?" The boy looked at Zoey's robot arm.  
"No. That's my actual arm... Well, I mean, I made it.." The boy examined it closely.  
"That's amazing! Humans have gotten so advanced while I've been away."

Zoey and Kim looked at each other, puzzeled. Kim spoke up. "What do you mean? It's been like that for years now."  
"Well, I've been living in another dimension for years. And-" The boy paused. "Oh yea! I needed to tell you something important. I live in the twilight forest. I know that there are lots of people that travel there now, either to kill evil or admire the wildlife, but no one knows it better than me. As you can tell I've been tainted, or 'fluxed' as you guys call it, but you've probably noticed it's different to yours. That's because I can control it."  
"Control it?!" Kim couldn't believe it. "There's actually a way to control this monstrosity!" She ran at Zoey and hugged her tightly, laughing. "Hear that, Zoey! We can sort this out after all! We need to wake up and tell-"  
"You won't need to tell your friends. I've already done that. Now listen, come through the twilight portal at around 9 tonight, I'll meet you there and show you how to sort this mess, ok?"  
"Ok" Zoey giggled. Kim was dancing around, laughing. She was so happy. The boy walked off into the distance."Hey, wait. Who are you?" Asked Zoey.  
"He laughed. "No one special."

 

Zoey woke up in her bed, smiling. She could hear the cheers of Duncan and Rythian. It didn't take long for Kim to start running to the fort. She forgot all about the pain the flux had caused her legs. Her laughs could be heard miles away. Zoey walked out of the tent to see Kim running at Duncan and falling into him. "I take it you know then, Kim?"  
"YES! We finally won't have to put up with mother! We won't have to suffer anymore!"


	10. Voices

With 9pm fastly approaching after what seemed to be a long day of waiting, the four set off to the Twilight portal. The pain had returned to Kim's legs so Duncan carried her on his shoulders. He didn't mind much. Rythian led on through the trees with Zoey close behind. She had a headache from mother on top of the numerous mushroom voices in her head.

Rythian paused. "uh...Guys. I think we might be lost. I was sure it was this way.."   
Kim and Duncan groaned.   
"Oh, come on, Rythian! We're so close to being free of Mother! You can't get us lost now!" Kim whined and leaned on Duncan's head. Zoey stopped moving, covering her ears.   
"Zoey?" Rythian asked.  
"I-I'm fine. It's just I can hear the Weird Mushroom's gibberish on top of the normal mushrooms and Mother. It's making my head hurt even more." Rythian looked at Duncan and Kim and nodded.  
"Which way?" She walked around for a bit, finally pointing right. They headed off, this time Zoey leading.

There was a long silence as Zoey tried to concentrate on following the voices. Rythian, Duncan and Kim followed behind. Rythian broke the silence. "Do we know we can trust this 'flux boy' I mean, all he really told you is that he can 'help' control your flux. What If its a trap?"   
"What if it's not, though?" Duncan replied. "I know there's not much showing we can trust him, but it's a risk we need to take." Duncan attempted to look up at Kim, tilting his head back as far as he could without causing Kim to fall. He stumbled slightly but steadied himself fast. "Hey, Kim? You met this flux guy, right? Did he seem ok?" Kim was still clutching Duncan's hair after nearly falling. She let go and let out a sigh of relief.  
"He seemed nice enough. He seemed to not know about tech though. Zoey's arm amazed him. He thought it was the work of Mother." She chuckled "As if mother could rival Zoey's technology." Rythian half resented her statement.   
Kim leaned herself on Duncan's head again, causing his goggles to fall slightly. He pushed them back up. "as long as he knows his flux, I think we'll be ok."  
Zoey halted in front of a small temple building. "It's in there." she started walking towards it again as Duncan ran past her towards it, kim on his back, giggling. Rythian sighed. "I really think this will end badly." He followed the others inside.

Sure enough, the boy was inside. He sat on a broken pillar next to the portal."Hello. I'm glad you made it. " He held out a hand to shake. Rythian ignored it and Zoey was still listning to the voices. Duncan stepped forward and shook it.  
"Hey. We've been really exited to come here." The boy looked around at Zoey, who was still covering her ears, and Rythian, who looked like he didn't want to be there.  
"Are those two-"  
"They're fine!" Kim chimed in. "He's just grumpy and she's got a headache."   
The boy giggled. "Ah. I see. If you'd like to follow me then, I'll show you the way."

They followed the boy through the portal and through the twilight forest. Kim and Duncan were running ahead, ecstatic, asking the boy all sorts. The boy happily answered and asked his own questions about how the world had changed and what it was like.

At this point, the two flux buddies had forgotten about the blackrock duo trundling behind. Rythian was fixated on the boy, still sure he couldn't be trusted. He paid a bit of mind to Zoey as she seemed to have blocked out the voices but was instead searching for something. He tried to ask what it was she was looking for but he was quickly turned away with "not now, Rythian. I have to find it."

After a short walk through a rather dark forest, they arrived at what was the ruins of a temple. Inside, Sections were left in ruin, covered in vines and moss that had claimed them long ago, while others seemed to be more looked after. Walls covered in symbols that made no sense to them were clear of all moss. Duncan, Kim and the boy walked past it without a glance, too eager to sort the flux to care. Rythian almost did the same but stopped when he noticed Zoey had taken interest.   
She appeared to be reading it, understanding it. Rythian couldn't understand a single symbol. How could she-?

Rythian was about to question her but, before he could, Zoey set of in a sprint down the corridor, catching up to Duncan and Kim. Rythian followed. He was surprised when as Duncan and Kim turned a corner, Zoey went the opposite way. 

Rythian sped up, chasing after her, finally grabbing her and stopping her in her tracks. "Zoey?! What are you doing?!" He asked. Zoey tried to pull away from him but struggled. "Rythian.. Please... I have to help them.." She spoke as though entranced by something.  
"What is it?! What are you trying to find. Please, tell me!" Rythian's voice was full of worry. Zoey struggled further.   
"I can't tell you. You wouldn't understand!"   
"What? Please, Zoey. You're frightening me."  
"Just.. Let.. Me... Go!" With a heave, she pulled herself away from Rythian, continuing on her course. Rythian continued to follow her.

 

"So how does it work? The whole 'controlling flux' thing?" Kim asked, eagerly.  
"Well it's simple, really" the boy answered  
"Simple?!" Duncan interrupted, "you've got to be joking. We tried EVERYTHING and found nothing!" They turned a corner and headed down a dark corridor with walls of marble.   
"Did you ever actually listen to Mother?" The boy picked up a torch off of the wall and carried on.  
"Did we-? You must be joking, right?"  
"Why would I joke about this" the boy smiled. "I'm trying to help after all."  
Kim sighed. "Really? Then carry on explaining, please."

"Ok, so back when I first got my flux, I as tormented by mother just like you guys. Weird dreams, random hypnotic trances that I would often wake up from not knowing where I was... Every single day this would happen. Until one day, I woke up from a trance in the centre of this temple. It wasn't Mother talking to me anymore. it was Someone more gentle. You've probably noticed by now that Mother can't talk to you here."

Kim stopped and thought. For the first time in ages, her head wasn't clouded by flux. She couldn't hear whispers nor was Mother giving commands. "She really can't reach us... I can tell." She chuckled. "That's.. Amazing." She smiled and relaxed her mind.

"Anyway, the voice," the boy continued. "It was nothing id ever heard before. It wanted to help me. And it led me right here." Kim and Duncan were surprised when a door appeared In front of them. They hadn't at all been paying attention to where they were going. The boy pushed it open to reveal a room with purple markings and a table of sorts in the middle. They walked in and closed the door behind them. Only when they were in the lit room did they realise. "Hey where's-?"

"Zoey!" Rythian shouted. "Come back! Where are you going!" He chased her through various corridors, round numerous twists and turns . She always managed to stay that little bit ahead somehow. She had a clear goal. Rythian lost her for a second as they came to a split? He spun trying to figure out which way. He heard a warping sound from the left and quickly sprinted back into action. He had to find her.

In the room, Zoey was stood in front of a newly activated portal. She was about to step into the vortex of green when suddenly, she heard a shout and hesitated. "Zoey!" Rythian was stood at the entrance, panting. "What are you doing! I-I don't care if I don't understand! I want to know! I NEED to know!" Zoey slowly turned, to face Rythian.  
"Listen to me. I'm going to be gone for a while, I'm needed somewhere else, somewhere different. I don't know for how long but I will be back. I promise."  
She softly smiled as she turned to walk into the portal. Rythian could have sworn her eyes were tinted green in that moment. He had no time to think. He tried to grab her but the portal closed behind her. "No, no, no, no, no!" He looked everywhere for a switch, feeling for a secret button in the walls. "How do I keep losing you?!" He whispered, angrily. He fell onto his knees, mumbling to himself. He lost her again. The one thing he cared for, left once more.  
He grew silent,  
He heard a voice close by. One that he didn't trust at all.  
"You.."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM NOT DEAD!!! That's right, I finally got around to writing again. I'm so so sooo sorry that this took so long. Trust me, I'm back at school now so I'm back into a routine. I will start writing chapters somewhat regularly again. I know I only have 2 more chapters of this but I'm planning a kind of sequel (I guess??) following Zoey.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll try and remember to write, or atleast start, the next one tomorrow.


	11. Betrayal

"Woah..." Kim and Duncan gasped in unison. The room was like nothing they'd ever witnessed before. Odd markings covered the wall making it almost creepy. "Pretty impressive, right?" The boy smiled at them, calmly. "This is what we need to sort that flux of yours out. Who's first then?" The boy gestured to the table. It had some sort of runic circle on it Made out of... Flux? Kim was entranced by the markings on the wall but snapped out of it when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Duncan was smiling at her. "I think Kim is priority."  
"Ugh. Duncan stop being nice. It's weird"Kim hobbled over to the table. "So what do I?"  
"Just place your hand on there and focus really hard." The boy looked to Duncan. "Hey, Duncan was it? It is imperative that we do not crack her concentration during this. It could go wrong. VERY wrong"  
Duncan nodded, sternly. The boy turned back to Kim. "Whenever you’re ready, Kim."

She hazardously put her hand on the alter-like table. She felt something coercing through her veins and fill her body. She was startled at first but remembered the boy’s words about concentration. Duncan decided to distract himself with the markings. 

When the boy saw that the table was working, he sneered. He saw the flux on Kim move into patterns and it only filled him with more joy. That joy faded into anger when he heard a loud bang and rather loud footsteps coming towards him. Kim flinched but fought to maintain focus. 

Rythian entered the room looking even more angry than usual. As soon as he saw the boy, he charged at him. "You..."His voice was gruff with anger. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ZOEY." Rythian grasped the boys neck and held him against the wall. This made Kim's focus finally fade. She turned around in shock forgetting everything the boy had said. "Wait what happened to-" Her words were cut short when she disappeared into thin air. "KIM!"Duncan shouted. 

The boy sighed. "Now look what you've done, Enderboy. You've made the flux child disappear."The boy sniggered. "What's this about your ‘Zoey’? I did nothing to her. Not intentionally." Rythian tightened his grip.  
"The portal... Where does it go?"  
"A portal? I have no idea what you’re talking about."The boy gave a smug smile. Rythian's grip got even tighter around the boys neck. Making him cough violently. Agh... That hurts... Ok, ok. I know what you mean but I REALLY don't know where it goes. It just kind of opened sometimes and unlike your precious idiot Zoey, I don't walk into random portals."

The boy let out a laugh as Rythian released his grasp and turned away, not realising a swift punch from him was heading straight for his gut. He coughed violently again, only laughing more as he saw a pissed off Duncan heading towards Rythian.

Rythian changed his tone from anger to sympathy as he saw Duncan heading towards him. "Look, Duncan. I'm sorry, I didn’t mean- wha?" Rythian was surprised when Duncan walked straight passed him and headed for the boy. "Duncan?" Rythian asked. 

Duncan picked up the boy by the scruff of his shirt. "WHERE THE HELL DID KIM GO YOU PSYCO." Duncan's anger exceeded even Rythian's. The boy laughed upon seeing the tears running down Duncan's face, then sighed. "Unfortunately for me, she's with Mother now. This was a lot harder than I thought it would be"  
"What do you mean?" Duncan questioned.  
"Oh you know, just thought I'd piss off the flux overlord by impersonating her. Getting you guys to come here to 'fix your flux' was easy. I wasn't even going to have to try very much to control you until Ender Idiot happened." The boy, yet again, sniggered. "Duncan dropped the boy in surprise. "This was all... Fake? Flux having a cure and everything... Wasn't even possible?"  
"Pfft, get real. As if there is an actual cure for the flux. Then my power would be useless."  
Duncan was stunned. "Who... Who the hell are you?"  
The boy grinned. "Only the one and only Flux King." 

*

"-to Zoey? Is she alright? Huh?" Kim found herself suddenly in an empty room. "Well this is weird... Godamn it, Rythian. You broke my concentration." Kim sighed.  
"Are you not glad that happened, my child?" a voice echoed through the room. "You would be done for if not for him." Kim frantically looked around for the source of the voice. She laughed when she realised who it was.  
"Done for? What do you mean? He was helping free us from you, Mother."  
"Or so you think." Kim felt hands run through her hair but as she jolted to see, there was only air. "That 'boy' is the bratty child known as the Flux King. He was the one tormenting you. I believe this is one of the few times we've spoken."  
Kim continued searching slowly around the empty room. "You expect me to believe you?"  
"Not really but you'll believe him, will you not?" 

A screen appeared in front of Kim out of thin air. On it was Rythian, Duncan and the boy. Duncan was visibly crying while pinning down the boy who was laughing manically at him.  
"Duncan..." Kim sighed, softly. She went to touch the screen but it vanished again.  
"Now do you see, Child?" Kim was lost in the news of the betrayal.  
"I guess? But why? What would he achieve from lying to us? What would he gain?" 

"The most powerful minions ever known. Flux rarely infects beings like humans so you can imagine his sheer delight when 3 humans got infected. His plan was to steal you from humanity, make you his evil minions by tricking you into thinking flux was a thing you could be free of." Kim did not speak. She stood holding her head in her hands. Tears started streaming from her eyes.  
"Do not cry child." Kim once again felt like someone was touching her, it felt like a hug this time. "True, flux cannot be tamed nor be rid of, but I'm here to protect you. I cannot reach the Flux King while He has a physical form and I do not. But maybe there is something we can do together, child?" 

*

"The... The Flux King?" Duncan stuttered. "h-HOW!?"  
"I knew there was something up but, the flux King? How could this be?"  
Rythian and Duncan were both in shock about the news. The King just laughed. "How pathetic. The Enderboy and the Flux Boy are actually powerless? Maybe I should pick my minions better...”

"Well I can confidentially say that I would have been a great minion." Kim stood across the room. She looked overwhelmingly powerful. Flux emitted from her as if a cloud of purple smoke. "KIM!" Duncan shouted in joy. Kim grinned at the king menacingly. He scowled back at her. "I see you've met Mother."  
"Oh yea, she's great. Very loving. Even let me borrow some of her power. How nice of her."  
The king flinched. "Even still, you won't be able to beat me with only a fraction of her power."  
"Oh did I say a fraction of her power? My mistake. I mean she's here and helping me. You better run, King." 

The King growled in frustration and turned to sprint away, not realising that both Rythian and Duncan were stood behind him. They grabbed him as he tried to get through the small gap between them. "Powerless was it, flux King?" Duncan chuckled. “Yes, I do recall you calling us something like that" added Rythian.

The flux King struggled in their grasp until he completely stilled. The two men celebrated their victory, missing the evil chuckle from the King. "There's a reason I called you powerless, boys." Suddenly, the King exploded with power sending Duncan and Rythian flying. "Never thought I'd have to go full on agains you guys."

Kim watched Duncan and Rythian struggle to stand up. "Guys, it's fine." She chuckled. "We’ve got this." Purple aura emitted from both Kim and the King. They threw themselves at each other, matching each other in a hand to hand fight. A punch caught Kim's shoulder that threw her against the wall. Something over took her in that moment, something powerful. She stood up, unfazed by the punch. 

"Now, now, King. Was it not you that just before was trembling in anxious fear of my power? How pathetic. Why even carry on when you know what I'm capable of?"  
The King growled as Kim chuckled. "Mother."  
"King"  
Duncan and Rythian looked at each other confused as they watched the King and Mother, silently. Mother couldn't help but laugh and grin at the King who looked so helpless and furious.  
"I don't understand, Mother. Why pointlessly protect these people. They're humans. They'll die soon anyway. I only wanted to make their measly lives more useful."

"Oh, you know why, King. You at least saw the potential in them that I noticed to even want to pick them as your servants. I want to help them succeed." Mother held out a hand and started charging a powerful attack in her palm.  
"You're talking crap, Mother. It's all just a game to you. You'll help them but you'll want something far beyond them in return afterwards."  
The attack finished charging and stilled in Mothers palm. "Well, King, you're not entirely wrong. Oh, why am I still humouring you? Let us finish this."

The King jolted out of the way as mother rushed him with her attack. He didn't realise that her goal was not to hit him but use the attack as a decoy and grab him with her free hand. Firm grasp tightly on the King, she shoved the king's head onto the alter-like table.

"No, NO. Do you even realise what you're doing?!" He pleaded.  
Mother only added more force and grinned. "Of course I do. And unlike my child, you're not coming back." The table reached a point of half charge and mother released her grip. The King opened his mouth to scream but was gone before a noise could escape him. 

The room was silent. Mother stood disgusted in the middle, still in control of Kim's body while Rythian and Duncan stood star struck by what had just happened. Mother brought her hand back down to her side. "What a pain..." She turned to face Duncan and Rythian. "Well, he won't be bothering you anymore."  
"K-Kim??" Duncan asked, cowering.  
Mother looked at him in surprise. "Oh, no, boy! I took matters into my own hands. It's Mother. Do not worry though. Kim is fine."  
Duncan nodded slowly still unsure of what to think. 

Mother walked forward and placed a hand on the dazed Duncan's shoulder. "I know you are by now very aware of your clones, are you not?"  
Duncan had almost forgotten all about the situation back home with the clones. "Y-yea. Lalnable and specimen 5. Where working on getting rid of them. But why-"  
"Listen, boy! Lalnable is nothing compared to that 'thing' you call Specimen 5! Be very aware boy, very. Aware!' 

At that moment, thousands of questions filled Duncan's mind. "Wait, Mother! Why!-" Mother did not hear his pleas. She was already half gone in the middle of a transformation. Suddenly, Kim's body collapsed on the floor. Duncan approached it. "Kim?" He reached out a hand when, unexpectedly, Kim shot up, ready to fight.  
"Bring it on, you prick! I'm ready to kick ass!" She was surprised to see a room with only a rather dazed Rythian and a concerned Duncan in it. "Hey, where’d King prick go? I feel fantastic!" Duncan chuckled. Then, he paused.  
Duncan looked at Kim, bewildered. "Hey, Kim. Your flux..."  
"What?" She looked herself over, realising that the flux had receded. It now only partly covers her. "Whoa! Weird..."

Rythian walked towards them. "It must have been Mother, right Duncan?"  
Duncan nodded. "Yea. I wonder how though...”  
"Wait, Mother? What did she do? Where did she go?" Kim questioned.  
"I'll explain it in a minute, Kim. Let's get out of here first. "

*

"So she took me over and attacked him?"  
"Yea pretty much"  
"Wow, rude. She could have at least asked first"  
The three were just reaching the exit of the ruins as Duncan finished explaining to Kim.  
"She must have done something weird to make your flux recede."  
"Yea... How strange...” Kim suddenly came to a realisation. "Hey, where's Zoey?" Everyone froze. Kim and Duncan turned to Rythian who looked extremely upset. "Rythian?" Asked Duncan. 

"I-I don't know, ok! I wish I did, but I don't! I've lost her again! It's my fault... Why does this keep happening!?” He stormed over to stand by a tree. Duncan followed and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Rythian, what happened?" He could see Rythian's tears that he was desperately trying to hide. "I- she went through a portal to god knows where, and I couldn't stop her. The portal closed, so now I can't even go after her. You happy now, Duncan?!" 

Duncan looked at Rythian in surprise. "No! Of course not, Rythian! We need to find her..."  
"I need to find her. Not you, not Kim, ME."  
Kim approached slowly. "Oh, that’s just silly. Sure, do your thing. But we're going to help too when we can!"  
"I-" Rythian sighed "I just feel like it's my fault. I tried but I couldn't do anything." "Look, Rythian. She was obviously set on going there for a reason. She's going to be fine for now. She can handle herself. In the meantime, we can work on figuring it out." Rythian looked at Duncan as he smiled. He tried to smile back best he could. "Yea, I guess you’re right. Thank you for offering to help, guys. It means a lot"  
"It's nothing!" Kim smiled "Zoey's a friend! We can't just leave her!"  
Rythian chuckled reluctantly.  
"Alright!" Kim declared. "We best get going and get started then!" 

With the flux tamed for now, the three left the temple ready to help their friend, setting aside the worrying things that mother had said for the meantime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I enjoyed writing this! Sorry it took so long guys, I've been busy. BUT, as I said last time I have come up with a story following Zoey adventures to follow on from this that I am pretty sure I'm 110% committed to. My friend has actually asked if he can help me with coming up with this world I want to create for her to visit and it's getting very developed. I have got a short thing to write to finish this up and to be sort of a Segway into the Zoey story then I'll get started! Chapters may take a while for that but they will happen.
> 
> Also if there are any questions or you just want updates for my writing and stuff I have a blog on tumblr called doodlearcherdoodles. As you can kinda tell by the name it was meant to be an art blog but that ain't going so well so I may as well use it for something.


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